[Chad]

Wind Mobile Shows Photos Of Store

WIND Mobile is an interesting story. It was one of the new wireless carriers in Canada that was to compete directly with Rogers, Telus, and Bell, until it was recently rejected by the CRTC due to not having enough Canadian ownership. The company has already set up stores across Canada and employed over 500 Canadians. It was ready to launch earlier this month.

WIND recently released photos of the inside of one of their downtown Toronto stores, giving us a sneak peek at what to expect. Similar to Apple stores, they are clean with white walls and it is said that each store will have a Microsoft Surface Table showcasing the latest technology similar to what is already in AT&T stores (see video). Interestingly, the stores eliminate barriers with customers such as cash desks.

Information was leaked about the plans at launch having some attractive features:

• No contracts
• No System Access Fee
• No Caller ID or Voice Mail fees
• No in-province Long Distance (i.e. calling anywhere in your province should be a local call)

Phones rumored to be released included the Bold 9700, HTC Snap/Dash 3g, Huawei U8220, and the Samsung Gravity 2

So what do you think about Wind Mobile? What do you think of the current state of the phone industry in Canada and the existing providers? Reply below.

[Kathy2]

What does this have to do with McMaster ..?

[aaront]

Students = mobile-phone-users-being-kicked-in-the-groin-by-Bell-Telus-Rogers-Fido-etc.

[niteskie]

Originally Posted by Kathy2

What does this have to do with McMaster ..?

Not everything on MacInsiders has to do with McMaster. Like the above poster mentioned this is more related to us as students.

It would have been nice to see some competition for the other cellphone companies.

[Kathy2]

Ooh okay. I thought all announcments were McMaster-related.

[Marlowe]

To be honest, I'm quite sick of the telecom companies in Canada.

-How long was the delay for us getting the iPhone because the telecom companies were to backwards to support proper data transfers on a network?
-How long was the delay on the Kindle because all the telecom companies wanted to play hardball with Amazon? (And for the record, while Canada is now getting the Kindle, this is only because Amazon decided to go with the AT&T international network because talks with the Canadian networks weren't going anywhere.)
-How much more expensive are our cell phone plans over American plans because we don't have proper competition?

There's also the ridiculous fact that our telecom companies have openly admitted to data throttling, but there isn't enough competition to allow people to switch to a carrier that doesn't use such practices.

So yeah, Canada is definitely a bit behind in some tech areas...

The stores look beautiful though. Does this mean that they are actually going to be allowed to offer service now?

[PTGregD]

Fun Fact:

Cell phones in the U.S. have nationwide local calling. (You don't need to pay for a special plan, this is standard on ALL carriers)
(i.e., You can call California from New York and it's a local call)

Yet here in backwards land we play long distance to call the next CITY over.

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

The stores look beautiful though. Does this mean that they are actually going to be allowed to offer service now?

Not yet.

[Afzal]

Originally Posted by PTGregD

Fun Fact:

Cell phones in the U.S. have nationwide local calling. (You don't need to pay for a special plan, this is standard on ALL carriers)
(i.e., You can call California from New York and it's a local call)

Yet here in backwards land we play long distance to call the next CITY over.



Not yet.

thats because of lack of competition and a lot of demand by the consumers
I come from a third-world country and we pay almost 1/100th of what you people pay here for calls!

yeah

1 CAD = 80 Rs.
our local/nationwide mobile call = Rs. 2.5
messages .... Rs. 1
(ofcourse there are a lot of other factors but I still think there is a lot of potential for price decrease

Also, I read somewhere, WindMobile is gonna change local for all Canada (kick to the groin of Bell and Rogers )

[ice8]

Originally Posted by Afzal

thats because of lack of competition and a lot of demand by the consumers
I come from a third-world country and we pay almost 1/100th of what you people pay here for calls!

yeah

1 CAD = 80 Rs.
our local/nationwide mobile call = Rs. 2.5
messages .... Rs. 1
(ofcourse there are a lot of other factors but I still think there is a lot of potential for price decrease

Also, I read somewhere, WindMobile is gonna change local for all Canada (kick to the groin of Bell and Rogers )

I think its local for province but that will be awesome.

Too bad rogers has me trapped in a contract for my Bold. Once WIND comes out, i am definitely calling up rogers retention and gonna try to get a better plan or sumthing.

[Marlowe]

Originally Posted by PTGregD

Not yet.

Yay protectionism? =/

[marieeeeeee]

I like the fact that it's offering "No in-province Long Distance" it's gonna save a lot of hassles with number/area changing! I'm definitely looking into that once my Rogers plan is over.

[PTGregD]

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

Yay protectionism? =/

Yea, it's pretty dumb, but Wind Mobile is so rich (more so than Rogers/Bell/Telus I believe), that they will figure out a way to start providing service here. It will just take a little bit longer, that's all. They already have everything setup, so the second they get authorization from the guys upstairs, we'll have an amazing wireless provider finally.

[webzn]

I have been following WIND mobile since they first launched. Basically, I was excited to be able to use my cellphone without paying out the nose for basic features (ie, $7/month for caller ID). However, I was quite devastated when I heard the CRTC decision. Numerous websites hosting petitions launched almost immediately, albeit, in a pointless effort as the government would do no such thing as listen to the desires of its citizens.

[Infinity]

so this is actually happening? dec 1st eh? Now the only problem is coming out of a 3 year contract :(

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Kathy2

Ooh okay. I thought all announcments were McMaster-related.

MacInsiders isn't just about McMaster-only news. We post anything that is of interest to McMaster students... such as the hundreds of advice pieces written on non-mcmaster stuff, like general life issues and topics (see here), or about offers students would be interested in (ie. Free McDonalds Coffee Days, Free Harvey's Hamburger Day), crazy shark backpacks, really addicting online games, and other announcements happening in Canada that is open to discussion. As a community, we share plenty of thoughts on non-mcmaster related items..